Burger Cures at Hubbox

What feels like Bristol’s umpteenth burger restaurant, Hubbox opened this Summer to a few teething problems but soon they were smoothed out and serving burgers to the citizens of Whiteladies and beyond. One Sunday when we were hungov.. tired and emotional we managed to drag our carcasses off the sofa in search of salt and a hope that one day we might be able to be out in sunlight again without wincing.  We stumbled in to Hubbox to check out the latest new burger in town. 

 

Hubbox does offer up a selection of beef, chicken and veggie/vegan burgers but it also has the choice of two fish burgers which is something a little different. You can also order hotdogs, some barbecued items as well as loaded fries, wings and mac n cheese. As is the current trend burgers do not come with sides but as the burgers hover around the £8 mark adding on fries doesn’t make this too pricey. 

 I have been here three times in the past few months and here are my findings.  Their Kim Yum Chick, Korean influenced fried chicken burger really is something special. Spicy, tangy Korean mayo sauce and a particularly crunchy batter  elevate this for me. To be honest I will only ever order this burger I can’t see anything topping it at Hubbox.  I tried the Brie B King, chicken breast with brie and caramelised onions and garlic mayo, it was pretty nice but not enough to order again. The portion of fries is a little small in my opinion but when shared with a partner in crime with some mac n cheese (I recommend the blue and bacon) it does fill you up nicely.  

When you have so many burgers to choose from you do start minutely detailing how they differ from each other. Hubbox doesn’t crack my top three but you know what? That fried chicken burger is enough to get me back there especially with a hangover the size of Brazil. They offer up just few different things to give it a second glance over the behemoth that is Bristol’s Burger scene, of which I still have many more offerings to sample. To find out more about Hubbox visit their website.

Burgers at Asado

 

How many ways are there to offer up meat patties in a bun. If Bristol is anything to go by, hundreds.  You have your build your own places like the ever fabulous, Burger Joint. American style, such as 3 Brothers' Burgers and then you have the unchanging set creations such as Chomp. Months of developing the perfect tasting burger without having to add anything extra. Asado, Spanish for barbecue, falls into the latter category and puts a slight South American spin on our favourite fast food. A small menu of carefully crafted burgers and a few sides to go with them. You might think that Bristol is over-run with burger and pizza places but the number of decent burger joints I return to again and again I can count on one hand.  

Asado opened last month with great flourish as a heap of bloggers descended on the restaurant for a preview night. Situated on Colston St just down from the Colston Yard pub. Asado cooks it’s beef patties and chicken wings on a wood fired grill so you get the chargrilled flavour on the meat. Championing Bristol from the off, with Minirig speakers providing the sound in the restaurant, and Ruby and White’s providing the organic meat, you know you’ll be in good hands. 

 

The menu has two beef options, one fried chicken and a veggie.  The signature Asado burger tops organic beef with West Country cheddar, pickled red onion, chimichurri sauce, ketchup and confit garlic mayonnaise Likewise with the other beef option, El Don, you will find cheddar, pancetta and bbq onions to go with the garlic mayo and salad. It’s a burger Jim, but not quite as we know it. Tweaking what we expect from the traditional burger and twisting it a touch.  It’s making small changes such as these that take a burger from delicious to sublime. 

The only controversy is that Asado prides itself on cooking the burgers pink and juicy which does tend to divide people. It’s not exactly a problem as you can ask for your burger to be cooked a bit more. I am more in-between when it comes to burgers, I like the texture of a more cooked burger but the juiciness of a pink one. So for me a rosy blush is ideal rather than rare, and as it was pointed out unless you are following the rules pink burgers can make you poorly. Asado have some astringent policies in place regarding this and have been found a safe venue in which to chow down on a pink burger without worry.

 

What impresses me most with Asado is the attention to detail. Making their own habanero hot sauce and mayonnaise for the table just for your fries, which with the rosemary were excellent.  Even the oak smoked chicken wings had their own spicy yet creamy coriander sauce drizzled over the top. This sauce has quite a kick and it’s glorious, many places are too afraid to give any real heat to sauces, not Asado however. 

It takes some serious cajones to open another burger place in Bristol but I can guarantee you that it will elbow it’s way to the top of your list with all the charm of Ferris Bueller, you’ll want to bunk off work just to hang with these burgers. I was privileged to be amongst the group of bloggers, but I also returned as a paying customer just under two weeks after the preview evening.  It was the perfect birthday lunch treat for Rich, he almost couldn’t believe the flavour that came out of a burger.  It immediately shot straight into our top 3 burgers in Bristol.  Look out for limited edition specials, a small number being made each day, the current one is flying out the door. A beef burger made with bone marrow and topped with crispy shoestring onions and cheese. I am salivating just thinking about it, it is next on my burger hit list. 

Asado are open every day for lunch and dinner bar Monday. They are a very welcome addition to the restaurant scene of Bristol and I am looking forward to my next visit. To find out more about Asado, visit their website.

New Menu from The Burger Joint

Last week Rich and I were invited to the launch of the new Burger Joint menu. The Burger Joint is a bit of a Bristol institution.  Born in 2009 on Cotham Hill in a tiny restaurant with about 20 covers, owner Dan Bekhradnia and his team serve up create your own burgers with a choice of about 30 toppings. This proved hugely popular and soon Dan was looking for a larger venue, so when Planet Pizza vacated their Whiteladies premises it proved to be kismet. Fast forward  to 2017 and you can find branches in Bedminster and Fishponds. 

To keep up with the increasing trend of people moving over to vegetarian and vegan diets and choices the Burger Joint has refreshed their menu with some new vegetarian and vegan picks. You can also find some new hardshakes, alcoholic milkshakes, I first came across these at The Diner in London several years ago. There are some suggested combinations, but Dan encourages people to make up their own from their selection of ice cream and spirits. I chose vanilla, salted caramel and dark rum and very tasty it was too, not too thick so it doesn’t fill you up too much before your burger.

As well as the pre-existing veggie joint and the, much celebrated, mushroom with garlic and herb burgers, veggies and vegans can now order the vegan joint or the gluten free beetroot and feta burger. There is also the addition of vegan cheese to top your burgers with as well as over 10 meat free toppings. We got to sample the new beetroot and feta burger patties and I have to say they were excellent. Full of flavour the chopped basil really added something special. I think it would surprise meat eaters everywhere. I think adding these as a falafel optional side dish would be a winner because having to choose between the patty options is just too difficult.

beetroot and feta burgers

Another key item added to the menu is the truffle and Parmesan fries. I had my eyes on these from the off and Dan brought out dishes of these to share between pairs. I am not normally much of a fry person, more a chunky chip girl. Fries can be limp and flavourless, this was not the case here. Crisp golden fries with a good grating of Parmesan and a dash of truffle flavour coming through. Rich and I were fans and these disappeared in the blink of an eye. 

Once sampling of some of the new items had finished we were encouraged to tick our orders on one of the Burger Joint tick box forms.  I tend to have a standard order which is the beef burger topped with brie, blue cheese and chilli con carne, it’s tried and tested and remains to be creamy, spicy and messy all in one bite. However I thought I should try some different toppings, so I went all veggie with my toppings but sticking with the beef. So guacamole, roasted peppers and the newly added smoked Applewood cheddar crowned my Ruby and White sourced patty.

I am never disappointed when I go to the Burger Joint and this night was no exception. Dan knows his burgers and you will always leave feeling full. Unlike many burger places one side is included in the price so you can choose between a saintly salad, fairly sensible sweet potato chips or go full out with onion rings, as well as the normal fries you’d expect from a burger place. Like Dan and his staff who have welcomed so many Bristolians already, the new menu makes room for veggies and vegans alike to feel more at home. So if you’ve not paid a visit to one of the Burger Joints in a while, go check it out, and take your veggie friends with you. To check out the new options head to their website.

Eating Dirty at Meatliquor

In the last month Bristol has finally been able to welcome Meatliquor to it's streets. A launch that was heavily hampered by delays of licensing suspended opening it's doors for over a year. But now finally dirty burgers plus liquor have descended from London and they are ours for the taking. We were invited to the launch of Meatliquor the other week to sample their cuisine although it wasn't the first time I had visited. The first week there was a soft launch and one week day lunch time we headed down there to see what was what.

I personally find the decor in the day time a touch depressing and real, sometimes feels a bit like eating in a car park.  At night it seems a bit better, the neon red strips, a nod to the previous incarnation of the space, Dynamic Heating Services, soften the stark concrete pillars. The first Meatliquor I visited was the Brighton branch and the decor there is the stuff straight out of a Terry Gilliam film or a brothel in Blade Runner. Neon clowns, industrial metal tables, things to catch the eye everywhere, it is completely fantastical. I know the Bristol branch was looking to fit in with it's new home of Stokes Croft but to me it feels a little less magical and a bit too gritty. Although I really liked the light boxes filled with weird and wonderful etching styled pictures.

As for the food, this is a place to pig out so come hungry, hungover or both. What is a nice touch is they tailor each menu to include some dishes that reflect it's location. So Bristol has extended vegetarian and vegan options. On launch night I decided to try their buffalo chicken burger, chicken covered in hot pepper sauce, lettuce, onions and blue cheese sauce. Rich had the bacon cheeseburger and we shared some fries and sampled the xmac & cheese, deep fried camembert and stilton macaroni cheese logs with port and cranberry dipping sauce. On our first visit however I tried the deep fried pickles and the dead hippie burger, their signature burger.

As expected they have local beer from Wild Beer, a Bibble, and Rich sampled two cans. I was happily recommended their signature cocktail St Lawrence; Bulleit rye shaken with maple syrup, fresh lemon juice a dash of bitters and a twist of orange. It was really great, a wonderfully balanced cocktail very much recommended.

xmac & cheese bites

All of the food came on one tray but we decided to tackle the xmac & cheese first because we were really hungry, purposefully saving ourselves for a feast. These were seriously dirty food, pretty stodgy but that was only to be expected. I could have done with a little more stilton flavour coming through because they were a little bland to what I was expecting. But they were very rich so the port and cranberry sauce was well matched and needed. If you are looking for a side from their normal menu, first time round we sampled the deep fried pickles with blue cheese dip. These are seriously good, a great crunch on the batter which is crucial, no one wants a soggy batter. The dip could have been more blue but again I am a blue cheese obsessive.

Look Ma! Pickles

buffalo chicken burger

On to the burgers. The buffalo chicken burger was spicy, but enjoyably so. The rich blue cheese sauce helped temper it down a bit. I enjoyed this burger it was just very intense, the flavours are so strong they almost punch you in the face, but I would have it again if I didn't fancy any of the beef ones. The beef burgers are cooked pink, as they should be. Rich found his bacon cheese pretty tasty although they use a bacon patty instead of rashers which is a bit different. The chips were a big enough portion to share between the two of us. The dead hippie burger which I sampled first time round, two patties fried in American mustard, cheese and dead hippie sauce is rather good, and offers something a little different.

inside the dead hippie

Meatliquor is good, but had it opened a year or two ago when it was supposed to it might have been in my top 3 burgers but unfortunately, or fortunately, Bristol has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to burgers. My top three, as it stands are Burger Joint, Chomp and Three Brothers. These places offer better value for better burgers. Meatliquor is pretty expensive, like Byron before it these London joints have to evaluate their prices for outside the capital. Meatliquor's burgers also like Byron do not come with fries and with drinks prices as they are you could easily spend £30 for a couple of burgers, fries and a side plus non alcoholic drinks. To find out more about Meatliquor check out their website.

The launch night meal was complimentary but did not affect my opinion of the burgers. My first visit I paid as normal. 

Wriggling Lunch at Plead the 5th

Last week it was cold and wet I fancied a stroll and some food, naturally. I checked out Wriggle to see what they could temp us with and some scrolling revealed a stuffed cheeseburger with hand cut chips and some apple slaw for £6.50 at Plead the 5th on Park Row. Quickly purchasing two for such a bargain we headed out for some fresh air before burgering. Plead the 5th opened up last year in the place of the long standing Italian restaurant Mamma Mia. 

Plead the 5th is American themed, named after the 5th amendment of the US constitution, the right to refrain from speaking in court in case it incriminates you. An odd choice for a restaurant name but I suppose it's a phrase that has filtered down into everyday speech. Naming aside we arrived at the restaurant to be greeted by a friendly waitress and splashes of red, white and blue all over the decor. The music is overtly big American classic rock ballads and you'll find yourself singing along whether you want to or not, earworms aplenty here. 

Seeing as we had two such good Wriggle deals we decided to treat ourselves to some chicken wings to share. Opting for the cider apple barbecue glaze, which was a special item. When it came to the drinks I was disappointed that the selection was fairly sparse. Sodas are bountiful in America, they have many weird and wonderful options, this is where offering something a little different might be beneficial. There wasn't even any root beer, which was a little surprising. When I was a nipper even McDonalds in the UK used to serve root beer as an option, albeit not for that long. Plead the 5th has ten wines, four standard beers, and coke, lemonade and Dr Pepper. However if you want a cocktail the list is very long so maybe that is the best way to go if you want something different. We chose a diet coke and Dr P. but it wouldn't hurt for the drinks menu over all to have a spruce up it's all a little uninspiring and a missed opportunity perhaps?

Wings arrived and they looked delicious. Proper large full sized wings, a healthy portion. A pot of slaw accompanied them and an artistic smear of blue cheese dip. The apple cider glaze was delicious and the wings were nice and juicy we really enjoyed them. The blue cheese dip was really strong and was more like a paste but it really worked with the wings, I could have polished off a whole three plates of them. 

Our burgers followed soon after and again it was a pretty large plate of food the patty was large due to being stuffed full of cheese, The burger was topped with tomato, pickle and caramelised onions plus lettuce on the bottom with mayonnaise. 

The cheese in the centre was super hot and plentiful. It was a nice mature cheddar that was well flavoured. The burgers were all meant to be served medium rare but ours were definitely not pink in the middle, but they were pretty juicy and definitely messy. The buns though nice, disintegrated fairly quickly. The apple slaw had far too much mayonnaise and added nothing. The chips were nicely salted and did the job. It was a fair burger but not my favourite in Bristol. A table near us ordered the ribs and they looked great. They also do fried chicken and waffles which I've had before in London and I'd be interested in trying.

I just found our visit a little frustrating because Plead the 5th had some great moments but I just found the burgers a little underwhelming compared to the wings. The service throughout was great however, really friendly and attentive. I would visit again, because they definitely have potential just a few things need changing in my opinion. To find out more about Plead the 5th visit their Facebook page.

Burgers at The Shakespeare in Redland

Although we have a pub right on our doorstep it's not really everything I could want in a pub. So when I heard the Shakespeare on Lower Redland Road had been given a snazzy new makeover and encouraging noises about it were surfacing, I was compelled to check it out. We headed over on a Wednesday evening and decided to take advantage of their new menu. A good number of pub classics with an emphasis on burgers, and I like love burgers.

I decided to opt for their special, beef with chorizo and red leicester with sweet potato chips. Whilst Rich went for beef topped with smoked applewood, smoked bacon and barbecue sauce, plus some chips which were given a shake of rosemary salt. Homemade dips such as lemon mayonnaise and spicy relish are available for 50p each. Prices for the burgers hover just under the £10 mark, which considering the size of them is fairly reasonable.

Apart from the sheer thickness of my burger I just want to alert you, dear readers, to the fact that it had a whole chorizo sauage in the centre. None of those thin weak ass chorizo slices from a packet that one could get from any supermarket but a juicy, smokey whole sausage. Red Leicester has never been high on my cheese favourites list but this had melted beautifully over the generous meat patty. I wasn't sure what to expect from the burgers here, pub burgers are often generic but acceptable. This was a whole different ball game.

Soft brioche bun, well seasoned meat and toppings that went very well together all made for a great burger.  The sweet potato fries were a bit of a let down but the rosemary salted standard chips were much better. So basically if they can add that chorizo burger to the regular's list I will be even happier.  If you haven't already checked out the refit of the Shakespeare in Redland, please do it's rather good. To find out more visit their website.

Pop Up Dining at Pretentious Burger Kitchen

On Monday Rich and I decided we were in need of comfort after very little sleep thanks to the students upstairs deciding that Sunday night was the night to party. Having an ironic singalong to 90s dance tracks such as Haddaway's What is Love til 3.30am was their way to do it.  So the following night we were like the walking dead, and in no mood to cook so as I had already been eyeing up the current pop up at 40 Alfred Place. Pretentious Burgers, residing at the venue for just over 2 weeks and cheekily claim a two fingers deep thickness of patty. So we went along to check them out. 

For £8 you can have a burger with a cheese of your choice and a good choice of salads, or all the salad items if you so wish. Bacon and onion rings are 50p each and they have a selection of homemade sauces to have inside or on the side of your burger. I decided to order blue cheese and bacon on top of mine and requested chipotle mayonnaise and chipotle ketchup on the side. Rich went for cheddar and upgraded his chips to cheesy one and a side of homemade barbecue sauce.

blue cheese and bacon burger

This was probably the biggest single burger patty I'd ever attempted to tackle. The blue cheese was plentiful and I added a little of the chipotle mayo and ketchup on to the top of my bun and attempted to take a bite. It was certainly juicy, which meant messy, but no one ever said that eating a burger was elegant. The buns were outstanding, made in house and every bit as delicious as it looks. The burger was pretty pink inside and well flavoured. The salad was nice and fresh and well put together, I particularly enjoyed the extra crunch to the whole cornichons instead of gherkin slices. We were impressed these were really good burgers. The skin on chips were pretty nice too particularly with all the homemade dips.

Half way through we were asked if we wanted to try some of the new barbecue sauce they had just made, which was made with Southville hop beer. You could definitely taste the beer it would be perfect with meat as this sauce had a lot of depth. We just about managed to polish off the burgers but I was pretty full, they offer doubling up on the patty for only £2 but if anyone can manage that they are an eating hero of mine.

Rich insisted we try the crack pie, because if it's called that, it has to be good, addictively good, right? They would be correct, this was pretty delicious, hugely sweet and full of cream and sugar but the berries just about cut through the sharpness. Crack pie for the win I say.

There is no doubt these super friendly guys have passion for what they do, they really want to know what people think and are constantly trying new things over the course of their residency. I do hope they open up somewhere in Bristol soon because these are great burgers, even though we already have a lot of burger options the sheer size of these alone are different from most of the options we already have. To find out a bit more about Pretentious Burgers visit their Facebook page.  Hurry if you want to sample them as they finish serving up on the 22nd of February.

Burger Specials at Chomp

Chomp is a bit special isn't it? I first tried one of their burgers at one of the street food festivals a couple of years ago and it was somewhat awesome. When I heard that they would no longer be confined to hawking burgers from their van but rather in their own restaurant I was delighted. Chomp opened on St Nicholas street in November and has been hugely popular ever since. 

Armed with Rich, Beth and Mr Popple we went, last month to celebrate the launch of their Chomp House Brew batch #2 by Wiper & True. Well everyone else but me, as I don't drink beer, but they had a special burger to go with it and that I was very interested in. For £15 you got a pint of the brew and a burger which consisted of the below:

So we ordered a round of these burgers and 3 pints plus two blue cheese sauces for dipping our chips in, Beth and I are very classy like that you see. The beer was going down very nicely with the rest of the group I really like the idea of a restaurant having a signature brew adds something extra special to proceedings. 

my drink of choice

Just look at that bun, so shiny and substantial. Quite a tower of meat sat in front of me, covered in melty cheese.  Firstly the best bit about this burger was the pulled beef, they should have this on the menu full time, it was so flavoursome and fell apart, the star of the show in my opinion. The onion ring was particularly crisp and added a different texture to proceedings. One side of my burger patty was quite dark and crunchy, but everyone else's were fine I think mine had just had a touch too long on the grill. The bun was superb, best bun in Bristol I would go so far as to say, burger buns need to be substantial and should not be an afterthought in burger construction. 

As for the rest, lovely coleslaw and the blue cheese sauce was decadently moreish. The chips were tasty but I could have stood to have them a bit crispier for my personal tastes, the seasoning on them was great though. Basically Chomp is rather delicious and provides something a little different in the busy burger market that is Bristol. High quality ingredients and focusing on a small menu makes for a great night out. I am looking forward to my next visit immensely, I might even treat myself to one of their steaks. I have also heard that Chomp's veggie burger is something to shout about so you won't have to worry about getting a limp salad on a suspect patty. To find out more about Chomp visit their website.

Fast Fooding at Five Guys

Five Guys, when it arrived in the UK caused quite a frenzy. The American chain of burger fast food eateries had been long rumoured to be the best burger pick for a lot of people. Now we have a couple of Five Guys in the UK word is spreading fast, whispers of  'best burger' were floating about the ether, a bold claim I hear you cry. Anyway Rich and I were invited to Five Guys in Cabot Circus in opening week to see what all the fuss was about. We chose to go after work and I was starving by the time 6pm came around.

When we arrived Five Guys was crazy busy there was a queue out the door, it was moving fairly swiftly however so we weren't waiting long. There is a very simple menu, your burger can contain cheese, bacon or cheese and bacon. As for the salad parts, these are completely customisable and free, options include; chilis, mushrooms, tomatoes, mustard and mayonnaise. You might be a bit taken aback by how much a normal sized bacon and cheese burger costs for a fast food restaurant, how do you feel about paying £8.75, not including fries? I was a bit shocked to be honest, to our order of bacon and cheese burgers we added two small fries of both standard and cajun seasoned. 

One of the big sells of Five Guys, for most people, is the 100+ soft drinks and free refills. For £2.50 you can sample as many varieties as Schweppes, Coca-Cola and Fanta make, and most of these you won't realise existed, mainly because they are US only. I am not a huge consumer of fizzy drinks to be honest but this selection is rather impressive. 

As we were waiting for our order to be called from the highly organised preparation area we helped ourselves to cherry and vanilla coke and a diet raspberry coke, the raspberry one was especially nice, shame it's not readily available in the UK. After about a 5-10 minute wait with complimentary peanuts, if you help yourself from the huge stack at the front of the restaurant, we were in possession of our brown paper bag of burgers and fries. 

bacon and cheese burger

cajun fries

oozy cheese

Compact and meaty burgers greeted us when unwrapped from their foil confinements. I had chosen to add gherkins and chilis to mine as well as the obligatory lettuce and mayo. The cheese was American and very oozy and melty, the bacon had been cooked so it was crispy and dry, which was a nice touch.  The burger was tasty and juicy, very American diner style, which I guess is what they were going for. The best burger I've ever had? No but it was pretty good. The chilis were nice and spicy and the portion of gherkins was generous which was great because I love them. The buns were surprisingly resilient and I love sesame seeds on burger buns. The cajun fries were spicy but over salted I found so I didn't finish mine for fear of dehydration but also because I was full.  The standard fries fared a bit better but still too salty for me. 

Five Guys does create a tasty burger, but for £8.75 without fries and considering it is a fast food restaurant I would expect it to be astounding because of the restaurant experience you are losing. I am not really sure what I was expecting to be honest but my personal point of view was this is not my favourite burger in Bristol but I think people do have different view on what makes a burger great to them. Five Guys might be further up my list if the price was dropped a bit more. If you go to Five Guys I would love to hear what you thought of it. This meal was complimentary but that did not affect the outcome of my review. If you want to learn more about Five Guys visit their website.

Cheap Evenings Out For Hungry People

In this blog post I am going to try and list a selection of places where you can get a deal on your evening out. I don't know about you but I am always looking for a bargain, especially when it comes to going out. Much as I love cooking there is something extra enjoyable about a spontaneous decision to dine out.  So I have gathered a list of places where you can dine out for £10 and under.  Perfect for students looking for tasty food on a budget.

Small Bar, are beer and meat your thing? Is that a stupid question? You can order hotdogs, big meat sandwiches and sides galore, most of which are under £7 hugely filling snacking to go along side the multitude of beers they have in their drinking arsenal.  And if bread and meat are your thing then you can also fare very well at Bagel Boy. These guys, based on St Nicholas Street, offer a huge selection of bagels, I personally recommend any of the ones with salt beef in. These are all easily under £10 and it is open late into the night so you can catch up over a pint and several bagels.

salt beef bagel from Bagel Boy

Or The Clifton pub host a fixed price menu full of comforting food with 2 courses for £10 expect burger, ham egg and chips and macaroni cheese. Likewise The Social on Cheltenham Road, a firm favourite with Bristol, they take special care with vegetarian and vegan menu items so you can be assured you won't feel like a second class citizen when it comes to choosing food. On Mondays after 5pm The Social offers 25% off any item from the dinner menu and a drink. For Winter they are offering lots of comforting food items like roasted meats with seasonal greens designed to centrally heat you for the walk home in the cold.

Fancy some Japanese cuisine but don't want to break the bank? Just look to Yume and Bento Boss. Yume's ramen, katsu and teriyaki dishes all come well below the £10 mark, some cheap enough to squeeze in ordering a side as well. Likewise Bento Boss does a vast selection of ramen, fresh baos and bento boxes for £10 and under you will still be spoiled for choice.

tempura prawn ramen at Yume

sungal pelek village rojak from Bento Boss (chef's hometown specialty)

Feel like pigging out on a burger, there are a number of deals. Racks does 2-4-1 burgers on a Monday evening which work out as £5 each. Start the Bus also offers 2-4-1 burgers, but on Tuesday I recommend the chorizo and grilled halloumi burger but if you're feeling adventurous then they do offer one with pickled onion monster munch and emmental. However you don't have to restrict your visit to just Tuesday the hot dogs, burgers and fried chicken all come in under the £10 mark as it is.  The Aviator on Chandos Road offer a couple of burgers for £8.75 which includes some delicious seasoned chips.

Chomp will do you a burger and fries for £10 and it's one of the best in Bristol.  If you are looking for a quick feed after a couple of drinks then YoYo burger may surprise you, some seriously delicious burgers and a huge menu to choose from, even a wagyu burger.

Start the Bus burger and skin on fries

I am always on the look out for pizza deals, mainly because they are Rich's favourite choice for going out, so Planet Pizza's 2-4-1 on Mondays and Tuesdays between 5-7, is a firm favourite. Super thin bases and generous toppings, the mushroom, walnut, artichoke and blue cheese pizza is one of my favourites. All pizzas at Al Bacio are under £10 I personally recommend their calzone it is huge and the dough is really moreish. Or The Stable for pizza, side salad and a drink from 5pm every Tuesday. In addition Flour & Ash on Gloucester Road will do you two pizzas and two glasses of wine for £20 before 6.30 and they are my favourite pizzas in the whole of Bristol.

Flour & Ash -Chorizo and Pickled Chili

pizza from The Stable

Planet Pizza yumminess

Other bargain dining venues include Mathilda's Chili Bar in the Bear Pit with offers from £6.95 for 3 bean chili or £8.95 for Texan brisket chilli, all served with rice, jalapenos, guacamole and sour cream, perfect for any cold snaps. I also really like Thai Pepper a neat little BYO on Gloucester road with a pretty extensive menu all mains are under £10 and the corkage charge is just a couple of pounds.  

Or for an extra special treat The Ox does a deal Monday-Friday until 7pm, a 6oz rump, fries, sauce and a drink for £12.50.  I am keen to try this myself, it is meant to be the best place for steak in Bristol. So enjoy seeking out frugal dining out in Bristol, these are my personal recommendations, if you have any favourite tips pass them on and I'll add them in. Happy dining!